BRIAN KEITH THOMPSON

About Brian

Brian Keith Thompson is the proprietor and Chief Piercing Officer of The World Famous Body Electric Tattoo, a Hollywood landmark situated on Melrose Avenue that stands as a Los Angeles institution and must-see destination for international travelers. Brian and Body Electric provide services to a long list of Hollywood A-listers, and have been featured on such television shows as 2 Broke Girls, Vanderpump Rules, Basketball Wives, Hollywood Exes, and Chrisley Knows Best – to name a few.

Thompson was born to run Body Electric. His father, a hard-working and firm-yet-lovable figure, served in part to inspire Thompson’s would-be work ethic. The remainder came from his inherently dynamic constitution and the many years spent in the US Marine Corps as a corporal and assault amphibious crewman.

After returning from a tour in Okinawa, Thompson embarked on his tattoo journey with an unusual introduction: at the hand of a recently released inmate. It was a chest tattoo – and it affected him significantly. To him, “It was electrical – literally.” And from that moment, he was hooked.

In 2001, a friend told Thompson about Body Electric Tattoo. And although he was at the time climbing the corporate ladder of a top multinational telecommunications company, the notion nevertheless took root. Five years later – before the stock market crash of 2008 and against the emphatic advice of his account – Thompson cashed out his 401k and bought the treasured staple of the city.

Since then, Thompson has been engaged in revolutionizing the tattoo and piercing world. In an industry rife with not-so-personable practitioners and seedy establishments, Thompson and his Marine-Corps mentality have brought about a brand-new experience for his patrons with a clean, modern, non-threatening environment where customer service is the number-one priority.

Body Electric is a passionate provider of specialized tattoo designs and piercing services with veteran artists who possess over 100 years combined experience. And it’s Thompson intention that the local landmark serve as his legacy long after he is gone.

Body Electric Tattoo

Since 1992, Body Electric has been a passionate provider of specialized artistic tattoo design, consulting and piercing services. Body Electric's veteran tattoo artists have over 100 years of combined tattooing experience and can create custom artwork or bring your own designs to life. Body Electric's piercing knowledge, professionalism and jewelry can not be beat, stocking only the highest quality body jewelry from manufactures in the United States including Anatometal, Neometal, Industrial Strength and Body Vision.

Press

Los Angeles-based celebrity piercer Brian Keith Thompson tells us that he gets asked, "Is this going to hurt?" before almost every single appointment — regardless of whether he's working with a piercing virgin or full-body pro, because pain is relative...

Her next few Instagram story videos showed her actually getting both ears pierced, and her reaction to the needle piercing the skin. Her Instagram story feed ended with a shot of her and Brian Keith Thompson from Body Electric Tattoo...

"I find lots of women are more adventurous now," L.A.-based piercer Brian Keith Thompsontells R29, "So they come in and let me decide what to do to their ears." Hell, Beyoncé, Scarlett Johansson, and FKA Twigs trust him, so it makes sense that during the month he favored the rook, for example, it created a massive uptick in L.A. But the origin story behind the latest trend is different.

Keep in mind that piercing isn't an exact science, so different experts recommend different techniques, but these are the experts we trust. Thompson puts it best: "Talk to 100 piercers and you're probably going to hear 100 forms of aftercare…"

Ears are meant to be decorated — at least that's what L.A.'s raddest celebrity piercer, Brian Keith Thompson, will tell you. "They need it. They want it. They were put there to hang jewelry off of," he says...

It's Brian Keith Thompson, owner of Body Electric and piercer to stars like Beyoncé and Jessica Alba, that's one of the forces behind the trends. In fact, he'll tell you that decorating your ear is exactly what they're there for. "They need it. They want it. They were put there to hang jewelry off of," he says...

Spontaneity is cool and all, but before you go googling "Nose piercers near me," please search "Do nose piercings close up?" first. The answer might surprise you. Brian Keith Thompson owns LA's Body Electric Tattoo and counts Beyoncé, Emma Stone, and Jennifer Lawrence as his regular clientele. So we asked the pro to spit some truth about what you should know before shooting needles into your schnoz.

Brian is the God of Piercing in LA and the man behind the “constellation piercing” trend. His store, Body Electric Tattoo is the go to place for piercing and tattoos by LA’s A-listers such as Beyonce and Jessica Alba. “I’ve been doing piercings for about 10 years”, said Beyonce’s personal ear piercer to the Hollywood Reporter, “and piercings have been around for thousands of years...

I worked on Jennifer Lawrence multiple times, Emma Stone, FKA Twigs comes in quite often. I’ve done multiple piercings on her. I’ve pierced Beyoncé numerous times. I just recently pierced Adele. That was really cool. Those are a few of the celebrities I’ve been lucky enough to work with...

LA-based piercer Brian Keith Thompson: "The daith, rook, forward helix, and tragus are in hot demand — often in artful groupings of three or more," he told Refinery29 in 2017 article about new piercing trends...

This isn't exactly a rare occurrence for the celeb piercer, who works with Beyoncé, Scarlett Johansson, FKA Twigs, and many more Hollywood A-listers. "I've had girls come up to me at bars and stick their tongues through my ears or start fingering my ears," Thompson continues, "You're a constant target."

The first time we saw Brian Keith Thompson’s piercing-packed feed, we instantly fell in love with his work. From dainty cartilage piercings to his cool takes on the constellation trend, he clearly has a knack for body art.

With Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Rihanna, and Paris Jackson among the slew of celebs who sport barbells under bras, the nipple piercing is on its way to becoming as ubiquitous as belly button rings were in 1999...

There's almost too much information out there about piercing your child's ears. If you can avoid one thing, though, avoid getting them pierced with a gun, which is most commonly used at stores in the mall.

Cartilage piercings are all the rage. Ever since the 80s punk rock scene had us all jabbing at our ears with safety-pins and apple cores, we've been obsessed with glittering up the shell-like frames that sit either side of our face.

"There’s this stigma attached to it that once you get to a certain age you can’t have it any more, and I disagree," says Thompson. "I think that the only time you’re too old for a piercing is when you’re dead. That’s when you’re officially too old."

"If you are using alcohol and or peroxide every day trying to heal your new piercing, you’re probably going to have an adverse reaction; some people will have an allergic reaction. After it stops killing the bad guys, peroxide starts killing healthy skin cells. Your body has an immune system. Let it do its job."

We love piercings. We love them in our ears, in our noses, heck, even in our hair. Finally, we've passed the point of stigma, and having multiple piercings (or tattoos) is becoming seen and valued as a vehicle of self-expression.